Obama CAN make progress in negotiations with Iran, despite Congress
So, what can Mr. Obama do in order to maximize diplomacy’s chance of success despite structural congressional strictures? The answer is clear: Explore and exercise those foreign-policy options that cannot be easily hindered by Congress.
the president can also – without the hindrance of Congress – reactivate the United Nations’ dormant capacities and use them in favor of the upcoming negotiations.
Can Obama forge nuclear deal with Iran? http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/can-obama-forge-nuclear-deal-iran Reza Nasri, The Christian Science Monitor
February 20, 2013
Pressuring Iran is no longer just a matter of tactical policy for Congress. It’s a deeply institutionalized ritual that every member is expected to partake in.
This is a sad reality that Tehran is fully aware of – one that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, tacitly acknowledged last week after the Obama administration implemented new congressional sanctions: He said that Iran would not be negotiating with America simply “for the sake of negotiating.” Iran wants a negotiating partner that can actually deliver on a promise to normalize relations and reciprocate concessions with mutual concessions.
As Congress has made this implausible for now, bilateral talks between Tehran and Washington are not likely to take place any time soon. On the other hand, the United States and Iran will inevitably meet to negotiate the latter’s nuclear program in the context of the multilateral “P5+1” talks scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on Feb. 26. Continue reading
Iran is using its enriched uranium for peaceful purposes
UN Report: Iran is Diverting Uranium for Peaceful Purposes http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/20/un-report-iran-is-diverting-uranium-for-peaceful-purposes/
But the US still stubbornly insists Iran stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, despite proving good on its promises by John Glaser, February 20, 2013 A United Nations report due this week is expected to detail a decrease in the growth of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium because it is diverting much of the material to make fuel, as it has promised, Reuters reports. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even Israeli intelligence admitted publicly last October that Iran was diverting much of its enriched uranium for peaceful scientific research and medical isotopes.
This information clashes with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to warn about. On Monday, heissued another stern warning of Iran’s determination to become a nuclear state, insisting that a “robust, credible, military threat” is the only thing that can stop it.
Some reports claim Iran has installed new uranium enrichment, increasing its overall capacity. But this upcoming UN report is expected to conclude that the rate of growth of Iran’s capabilities is slowing, primarily because the material is being used for fuel and other peaceful purposes.
Iran has repeatedly announced its 20 percent enriched uranium is for peaceful purposes like fuel, scientific research, and medical isotopes. Iran has followed through on this promise.
Still, negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are essentially stagnant because of Washington’s insistence that Iran give up its 20 percent enrichment.
Unreasonable threats made, about Iran’s uranium enrichment
Despite Scaremongering Iran’s Uranium Stockpile Not Growing http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/10/despite-scaremongering-irans-uranium-stockpile-not-growing/ Civilian-Enriched Uranium Fueling Civilian Nuclear Program by Jason Ditz, February 10, 2013This already happened once, with the “red line” supposed to be reached in October of last year, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barakeventually admitting the use of uranium had pushed it back until this summer. The continued use is pushing it back even more.
The reality of the situation is that these red lines are constantly predicated on Iran inexplicably stopping the use of uranium for civilian purposes, meaning there is always a “red line” looming in the next several months based on having any enrichment capability, an excuse to make threats against Iran without having the line ever actually get crossed.
USA- Iran talks “futile” says Iran
Iran says nuclear talks with US futile 9MSN News, February 8, 2013
American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while
Washington is “holding a gun” to the country through sanctions, Iran’s
supreme leader says, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with
the West over the nuclear standoff.
The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all
major decisions in Iran, has been reiterated by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo.
Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider
negotiations between Iran and world powers, including the United
States, resume this
month…..http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/02/08/06/01/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-us-futile
A manufactured danger- the supposed nuclear weapons threat from Iran
Contrast, then, the Iranian nuclear posture with that of the U.S. and
Israel – the two supposedly threatened parties.
Israel has perhaps as many as 200 nuclear weapons. It is unknown
precisely just how many bombs Israel possesses because it refuses to
sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which Iran has done), or allow in
international inspectors (which Iran continues to do).
Meanwhile, the U.S. – the only nation to actually deploy nuclear
weapons in combat – is currently in the midst of upgrading its arsenal
of 5,113 nuclear warheads. With conservative estimates approaching
$400 billion, the Washington Post reports, it will be the “costliest
overhaul in its history.”
And yet, it is Iran that poses the nuclear threat?
The Iran Nuclear Threat: Phantom Menace
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-iran-nuclear-threat-phantom-menace/5321242
By Ben Schreiner
Global Research, February 01, 2013 They say you can’t kill that which
has never lived. It’s useful advice when analyzing the persistence of
the so-called “Iranian nuclear threat.”
According to a report in McClatchy, “Israeli intelligence officials
now estimate that Iran won’t be able to build a nuclear weapon before
2015 or 2016.”
Recall that just this past September Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was theatrically warning that Iran would achieve nuclear
weapons capability by “next spring, at most by next summer.”
Of course, Netanyahu has made a career out of warning that Iran is
about to go nuclear – claiming as early as 1992 that Iran was 3 to 5
years away from being able to produce a bomb
As one Israeli official justifiably lamented to McClatchy, “Did we cry
wolf too early?” Yes – early and often, to be precise. Continue reading
Curiouser and curiouser- it’s now assumed that there was no explosion at Iran nuclear site
The IAEA Says It Has Inspectors At Iran’s Fordo Nuclear Site And There Has Been No Explosionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/massive-explosion-reported-at-irans-fordow-nuclear-facility-2013-1 Robert Johnson | Jan. 30, 2013,Conflicting reports of a recent explosion at Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility appear to have been put to rest.
(This is an updated post)
Reza Kahlili originally reported for WND on the “blast”: “The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran- Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast.”
Kahlili’s report said the Fordo nuclear facility was severely damaged in an explosion and up to 240 workers trapped inside.
Jay Carney then told reporters in a press conference, that the White House had no information on the report: “We [the U.S.] have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible. We don’t believe those are credible reports.”
Iran’s official news agency, said the same thing, with the IRNA, promptly denying the explosion, claiming the news was simply the result of the Western media-fueled “propoganda machine.”
That might have ended the story there, but The Times of London’s Israel correspondent Sheera Frenkel also confirmed the incident through her own independent sources: Continue reading
Times of London says there was explosion at Iran nuclear site
Top British Paper: Massive explosion believed to have damaged nuclear facility in Iran -Sources http://enenews.com/top-uk-paper-massive-explosion-believed-damaged-nuclear-facility-iran-sources
January 28th, 2013
Title: ‘Blast’ at Iranian nuclear facility
Source: The Times of London* (via The Australian)
Author: Sheera Frenkel
Date: January 29, 2013
h/t pcjensen
A MASSIVE explosion is believed to have damaged Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is being used to enrich uranium, Israeli intelligence officials say.
Sources in Tel Aviv said yesterday they thought the explosion happened last week. The Israeli government is investigating reports that it led to extensive structural damage and that 200 workers had been trapped inside.
Israel believes the Iranians have not evacuated the surrounding area. It is unclear whether that is because no harmful substances have been released, or because Tehran is trying to avoid sparking panic among residents. […]
One Israeli official said: “We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is.” He did not know, he added, whether the explosion was “sabotage or accident”, and refused to comment on reports Israeli aircraft were seen near the facility at the time of the explosion. […]
*Wikipedia: By June 2012 The Times’ average daily circulation had fallen to 400,120 copies, compared to The Daily Telegraph’s 573,674, with the two retaining respectively the second-highest and highest circulations among British “quality” newspapers.
More Reports:
- Bloomberg: Iran Rejects Report of Blast at Nuclear Site as Propaganda
- Telegraph: Mystery over ‘explosion’ at Iran’s Fordow nuclear site
See also: Report of huge explosion at nuclear facility in Iran — Major news networks dismiss claim
International Atomic Energy Agency says “no explosion at Iran nuclear site”
IAEA says no indications of blast at Iran nuclear site, SMH, 31 Jan 13, The UN atomic agency said on Wednesday that it had no indications that an explosion took place at an Iranian nuclear facility, as reported by Israeli and US media.
“We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordo. This is consistent with our observations,” said Gill Tudor, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The reports cited the conservative American news website WND, which said an explosion at the Fordo facility on January 21 had caused major damage and trapped workers.
Iran denied any such blast took place, with a senior lawmaker calling the rumours “Western propaganda” aimed at influencing upcoming talks with world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme…….http://www.smh.com.au/world/iaea-says-no-indications-of-blast-at-iran-nuclear-site-20130130-2dle8.html#ixzz2JbPAQz5z
Why spread an unlikely story of explosion at Iran nuclear plant??
Not for nothing have the major news organizations ignored Kahlili’s Fordow report. Beyond his questionable credibility, there is no supporting evidence. If a large explosion did occur at Fordow a week ago, why have no satellite photos appeared of dozens of vehicles on the site involved in rescue operations? And if there are 240 workers trapped underground, how come no worried relatives have expressed concern on one of the social networks? Iran may have a repressive regime, but tens of millions of citizens are connected to the Internet and are experts at evading the regime’s attempts to monitor and filter their communications. Something would have come out by now.
Who spread reports of an ‘explosion’ at Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant and why?
According to the report, the explosion in Fordow seriously damaged many of the centrifuges in the plant and trapped underground 240 employees who have yet to be rescued. But if this is true, why have the major news networks dismissed it?
Haaretz, By Anshel Pfeffer | Jan.27, 2013 The Internet has been abuzz over the last couple of days with an uncorroborated report regarding a huge explosion in the underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordow in Iran. According to the report, the explosion seriously damaged many of the centrifuges in the plant and trapped underground 240 employees who have yet to be rescued.
If this is true, it will be the most serious sabotage caused yet to the Iranian nuclear program. If this is true.
The main problem with the report is that no supporting evidence has appeared so far from any reliable sources to corroborate it, nor has a statements been released from an official source in Iran or any other country. All the main Western news organizations with contacts and sources in the intelligence community have steered well away from the story. (In Israel, only the tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth, which splashed the story on the front page of its Sunday edition, took notice of the story.)
Perhaps it’s the identity of the report’s author which leads to the disbelief: Reza Kahlili, an Iranian exile with an interesting past who is well known to many reporters covering intelligence and Iranian affairs. He published the report on the explosion, which apparently took place on Monday, the eve of the Israeli elections, on World News Daily, a veteran website with close contacts to the far-right in the United States. Kahlili himself is a frequent speaker at events organized by right-wing organizations and those that support the right in Israel. It’s not hard to realize why. In an interview he gave Haaretz two years ago, upon the publication of his book “A Time To Betray”, Kalili set out a worldview on Iran that was surprisingly similar to that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also compared the regime in Tehran to that of the Nazis, and called upon Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations…… Continue reading
A realistic plan for negotiations with Iran
Devil Is in the Details for Iran Nuclear Deal Anti War.com by Jasmin Ramsey, January 26,2013 After a year of fruitless negotiations that are expected to resume soon, Iranian and U.S. experts are urging both sides to show more flexibility and make more concessions on its nuclear programme.
A letter written this month by seven former Iranian parliamentarians now living in exile urges Iran and the P5+1 – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – to pursue a “win-win outcome” by incorporating four points into an agreement.
The letter states that Iran should be able to enrich uranium up to five percent for peaceful purposes; Iran should be given fuel for its medical and scientific research reactors if it halts its enrichment of 20 percent uranium and allows the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to control its existing stockpile; Iran should implement the Additional Protocol as a “confidence-building measure”; and Iran should be provided with a timetable for the lifting of sanctions if it halts its 20 percent uranium enrichment.
“The proposal reminds us that there is in fact a reasonable solution to this confrontation, one that satisfies each side’s core interests and removes any need for war,” Stephen Walt, a Harvard international relations professor, told IPS. “The only question is whether leaders in Washington and Tehran will be smart and far-sighted enough to seize it.”…… http://original.antiwar.com/ramsey/2013/01/25/devil-is-in-the-details-for-iran-nuclear-deal/
Explosion at Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment site. Is this report true?
So far, I have not been able to find corroborating information on this. Please check out the comments below this item – some good points to alert us to the possibility that this is a hoax. And note the video below the blogs – reminder of the effect of the radio program “War of the Worlds” – which panicked people many decades ago. – C.M.
Report: Explosion Destroys Key Iran Nuclear Site http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/122646/report-explosion-destroys-key-iran-nuclear-site A source is reporting much of the underground Fordo site has been hit By Adam Chandler|January 25, 2013 A few major sites that linked to WND story have removed it. I take that as a pretty good indication that this story cannot be confirmed.
According to World News Daily, a massive explosion is said to have destroyed most of Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordo.
An explosion deep within Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime.
The previously secret nuclear site has become a center for Iran’s nuclear activity because of the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20-percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say.
The explosion is said to have taken place on Monday. The nuclear site is a high profile target given that it’s completely underground and recently reached nuclear capacity. Just earlier today, it was reported that the Iran could quadruple enrichment at the Fordo site.
While I am extremely skeptical of this report’s veracity until I hear more, this is potentially a massive development. More to come.
Nuclear anxiety: Arab countries, and villagers living near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant: Contamination Risks Worry Iranian Villagers, Arab Neighbors By Yeganeh Torbati
DUBAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) – For the Iranian government, the Bushehr nuclear power plant is proof to a world worried about Tehran’s intentions that its atomic programme is aimed only at securing a modern, clean energy source for its people.
But for villagers living next to the facility, as well as Arab capitals nearby, the plant poses a potential danger that is less geopolitical and more immediate: the risk of contamination.
“We are extremely worried about our health and the health of our families,” residents of the coastal villages of Heleylah and Bandargah wrote in a statement published on a blog in 2010.
“According to international standards, the distance between a nuclear power plant and the nearest residence must be at least one kilometre … but the distance between the village of Heleylah and this power plant is just six metres!”
Thousands of people live in the two villages 18 km (11 miles) south of the Gulf city of Bushehr, many of them making their living as service workers at the plant.
Residents living near Iran’s nuclear-related sites told Reuters in interviews by phone and over the Internet that the government stifles debate on the pros and cons of the programme and where its sites should be located, and has not addressed their questions about what would happen in an emergency.
Iran’s Arab neighbours are also nervous. Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates all occupy coastline across from Bushehr, and the plant is closer to five Arab Gulf capitals than it is to Tehran…… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/bushehr-nuclear-power-plant-contamination-iran_n_2533383.html
Binding religious decree against nuclear weapons for Iran
Iran: Religious decree against nuclear weapons is binding TEHRAN, IRAN http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57564199/iran-religious-decree-against-nuclear-weapons-is-binding/ 15 Jan 13,
Iran sought Tuesday to spell out in its clearest terms yet that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, highlighting a religious decree issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that bans nuclear weapons. Continue reading
Mysterious evacuation of Isfahan’s 1.5 million residents near Iran nuclear site
Evacuation of large Iranian city near nuclear site raises eyebrows, legalinsurrection, by Bryan Jacoutot , January 4, 2013 An edict was An edict was issued on Wednesday by Iranian authorities ordering Isfahan’s 1.5 million residents to leave the city because pollution in the area “has reached emergency levels.”
Skeptical of Iran’s explanation for the evacuation, some believe it to have been prompted by more than just your average pollution. (h/t Uncle Samuel)… “Mass evacuations suggest a far more serious problem,” Rubin explained. “There are two possibilities here: There is a radiation leak and the regime is lying or there is really bad pollution and no one believes the regime’s explanations.”….. http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/01/evacuation-of-large-iranian-city-near-nuclear-site-raises-eyebrows/
Big nuclear powers not really motivated towards a diplomatic solution regarding Iran’s nuclear program
‘No real determination in P5+1 to resolve Iran nuclear issue’
http://presstv.com/detail/2013/01/02/281467/no-real-will-to-solve-ncase-in-p51/
An Iranian lawmaker says the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia,
and the United States plus Germany — lacks the determination to
resolve Iran’s nuclear issue. Continue reading
1 This Month
23 April – WEBINAR – Why new nuclear reactors are the wrong tools for decarbonization Thursday, April 23 • 1 AM – 2 AM AEST
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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